My Ranger uses Shortbow as well as [Main Hand]/Warhorn. I tend to mix up the main hand weapon. I prefer Sword, but it is buggy so Axe is more viable. I switch weapons whenever I am not fighting something weak that will die in a couple of attacks. I am lvl45, but have not yet unlocked the Master tier traits (1G is an awful lot!). My Pets are presently a Fern Hound (my favourite pet) and a Whiptail Devourer. The Whiptail is mostly a stand-in; I tend to switch back to the Fern Hound asap. I was originally thinking of using a Carrion Devourer, for the poison field, but am finding the Devourers not as good as I had thought at lower levels. I know the Murellow also has a poison field on F2, but I find bears boring. I switch pets when they get low on health, or sometimes just for the Quickness if I think a little damage burst will turn the situation.
My heal is Healing Spring. Troll Unguent would probably be better in solo situations, but the condition removal, along with its group benefits, wins me over.
My first utility is Flame Trap, which I use as a PBAoE. Very happy with this skill as it adds some nice extra damage, and fills that AoE niche my build otherwise lacks. My third utility is Quickening Zephyr. Face it, quickness is three kinds of awesome
My second utility gets swapped a lot. I originally planned a trap-oriented build, but Spike Trap and Viper’s Nest both seem vastly inferior to Flame Trap, and I cannot seem to find any value in Frost Trap at all (melee-range Chill seems pretty pointless). I have considered switching to more of a Survival focus, but the bleed cap is hit easily enough without Sharpening Stone, Muddy Terrain does not fit my close-range skirmishing style well and Lightning Reflexes is basically Shortbow 3, which I rarely use. Shouts, Signets and Spirits all seem like garbage.
For my Elite, I currently use Entangle. I honestly do not find myself using it very often, so I am not sure whether or not to keep it.
I have 10 points in each Skirmishing, Wilderness Survival and Beastmastery. All three minor traits fit my play-style perfectly. I have Agility Training, Wilderness Knowledge and Commanding Voice major traits, but am not fussed on them. In fact, I do not like any of the Major Traits across any tree. I am thinking 15 in all three trees, as I want their minor traits, but, again, none of the Major Traits jump out as worth investing for.
The build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/en/?fMUQNBlYDZkoquSyC1OA0KwJrgivCxewtXM
Has anyone any advice on going forward? I suspect my views on traits and skills would change if I were in later-game content, so a more experienced player can probably correct me here